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DOT offers new oil train rules

Forum News Service
8:37 p.m. CDT July 23, 2014

Under new rules proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, oil trains like the one pictured would face stricter regulations, such as decreased speed limits, car upgrades, mandatory oil testing and tighter brake requirements.(Photo: Forum News Service)

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The federal government on Wednesday proposed stricter rules for trains hauling crude oil after several derailments led to spills and explosions, including one near Casselton.

These new regulations could include the phasing out of old tanker cars over a two-year period, decreasing speed limits for trains hauling oil, tightening braking requirements, requiring mandatory testing of oil and other volatile liquids, and implementing new design standards for tanker cars.

Both of North Dakota’s U.S. senators are viewing the U.S. Department of Transportation’s proposal as a step in the right direction. But industry stakeholders, such as the state’s top oil regulator, Lynn Helms, and the Railway Supply Institute Committee on Tank Cars, say they want to further examine the options in the plan.

Scott Skokos, a senior organizer for the Dakota Resource Council, said that while he’s happy with the proposed rules, they still aren’t enough. He singled out the proposed two-year phase-out of old rail cars, some of which were built in the 1960s.

“With the two-year phase-out, the Bakken is going to be drilling vastly in two years, and in some ways it’s too late,” he said. “Keeping them on the rails is dangerous.”

The proposed rules include a 40-mph speed limit that could be applied everywhere, in high-threat urban areas or in areas with at least 100,000 people.

But U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said some trains already slow down in heavily populated areas at their own discretion and that they will “err on the side of safety.”

AAR President and CEO Edward Hamberger said the fact that the federal proposal incorporates several of his group’s suggested operating practices demonstrates the railroad industry’s commitment to safety.

“This long-anticipated rulemaking from DOT provides a much-needed pathway for enhancing the safe movement of flammable liquids in the U.S.,” Hamberger said in the written statement.

“I believe we can get to a standard that could work, but there are some options there,” said U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who has supported stricter rail regulations. “Everybody has to weigh in, and the objective is to get something that is comprehensive, workable and of course provides for public safety.”

Stakeholders have 60 days to submit public comment on the proposed rules, and the final regulations will be established in early 2015.